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| Ecoartist.org: Hill launches worldwide campaign to rally eco-artists. Sometime in 2005 while I was feeling the effects of our economy's ever rising inflation, I had the idea to post an ad on Craigslist.org looking for un-finished latex house paint to use in my art. Since latex house paint is pretty much the same as the expensive acrylic paints I had been buying at my local art supply, I thought it could be a great way of finding some cheap paint and also keeping it from ending up creating a toxic stream in a landfill somewhere near my home. |
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By the end of the week I had picked up more paint from my local area than I could use in a years time. I didn't want to waste any of it, so I began saving the clear plastic "Vitamin Water" bottles I was so fond of drinking up and throwing away. Once I had a big pile of empty bottles, I started filling them with colors I custom mixed from the plain gallons that were donated. When I was done I had about 100 beautiful, unique, colors to work with, and a big smile on my face! I looked down... Now what to do about all those empty cans and lids? Wouldn't they end up in the landfill too? I laid out a big piece of wood (coincidentally I had found it on the trash) on the floor and started crushing the cans flat with my boot. Hmmm... an interesting shape? I broke out my drill and screwed them all to the wood in a repetative pattern. Where had this box of screws come from? I think I remember taking them home after an odd drywall job I had done was finished because I didn't want to waste them... That's when the thought hit me... What if I made ALL my art from now on out of donated or recycled materials? Was that possible? What would that make me?.. An Ecoartist! I went online right away and typed "Ecoartist" into Google and low and behold... Nothing came up. How on earth could I be the only one who had thought of this? Artists are known for their progressive ideals on recycling, aren't they? Since then I have made a heart felt commitment to working totally in reclaimed materials. I've utillized many different ways of finding what I need to create my next piece. Websites like Freecycle.org are making a big difference in my life and in others. Whenever I absolutely must buy new materials for a piece I try to sell something I no longer use on Ebay to finance it, thus keeping that item in the loop, and out of the trash. I've even found an artistic use for those paint can lids that has opened up a dialog between artists and patrons on the "value of art". And, I have also found a few more people who call themselves Ecoartists, but it's still nowhere near the "Movement" I hoped to discover when I ran to my computer, and I think that is sad. Sad for our planet, and sad for our future as artists and as humans. So, Ecoartist.org is dedicated to the Art movement we can all start today called Ecoart. It's pretty self explanitory. Re-use things that would be thrown away to make new beautiful lasting things! I don't know how it will evolve? I just know it's a good idea who's time has definitely come! - Scott Hill - www.ecoartist.org |
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